The Eight Days of Ham

Day Five

On the Fifth Day of Hamness

we had Amish Ham Loaf.

And this time we have perfected the recipe.

It has only taken us four years.

Of course, given that we only make ham loaf

once a year, 

one could argue that we have a fast learning curve.

Or one could argue that we like to refer to ourselves

in the Royal We.

Yes, We do.

You may now bow down in our presence.

Yes, we like that.

 The ingredients for the new and IMPROVED! Amish Ham Loaf:

Loaf:

•         1 pound fresh ground pork
•         1 pound ground ham
•          ½ cup bread crumbs
•          ½ cup Graham crackers, crushed
•          2 eggs
•         1 tablespoon brown sugar
•         1 tablespoon onion, minced
•          1 teaspoon honey mustard
•         1 teaspoon salt
•          1/8 teaspoon pepper
•          ¾ cup heavy cream

Sauce:

•       2/3 cup brown sugar
•         1 teaspoon dry mustard
•          2 tablespoons apple jelly
•         2 tablespoons honey
•          ½ cup water
•          ¼ cup cider vinegar

Trim the skin, fat and connective tissue from the ham.  Pulverize in a food processor before adding to the ground pork and the remaining ham loaf ingredients.  Mix well.  Turn out into a baking dish, patting into a 2" deep shaped loaf.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes before proceeding with the next step. (Total bake time is 2 hours.)

Meanwhile, mix together the sauce ingredients. Pour over the ham loaf when there is one hour left to go.

In the last half hour, cover the ham loaf with foil, to prevent excess burning.

 The ham loaf is out of the oven and ready to be served.

And what do you know?  

After four years, we finally have the recipe right.  Good for us.

We are so proud of ourselves. 

We would like to thank the little people...